Florida

Legislative activities

While the Florida Legislature has not yet approved any laws specific with smart grid as early as 1978 it has looked into some of the distributed generation technologies and established renewable energy access laws for solar and wind. [7]

The Florida Legislature created the Florida Energy Commission, in part to deliver energy policy recommendation to the Legislature. The Florida Energy Commission has recommended to the Legislature establishing Advanced metering Systems and Pricing Strategies and establishing supply/demand options.

Regulatory activities

Florida’s PSC more advanced than many other states on smart grid due to their heavy reliance on natural gas generation and a fully subscribed gas pipeline feeding their system. For residential and industrial customers, they had demand-based rates prior to 1998 and prior to 2002 Time of Use Pricing. Well before 2003, they had industrial and residential load/demand side management and curtailable service. Prior to 1999 they had already established interconnection for distributed generators. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

“In the panhandle of Florida, Gulf Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, has been operating the Energy Select (formerly known as the Good Cents SELECT program) since the early 1990s. This program includes an automated energy management system for homes that comes along with a critical-peak pricing tariff… The system controls four end-uses: air conditioning, space heating, water heating, and swimming pool pumps… Gulf Power estimates that the program induces a drop of 2 kW per participating customer, amounting to approximately 40 to 50 percent of customer load during the top 1 percent of the hours of the year…

Florida Power & Light’s (FPL’s) demand response program, “On Call,” is one of the largest load management systems (LMSs) in the nation. At the end of 2008, FPL's goal was to provide 973 MW of load control during times of high demand on its system. The system uses more than 900,000 load control transponders connecting more than 780,000 users, and the load control capability is 984 MW. FPL uses a power line communications system that offers many control strategies enabled by a two-way communications feature. When managed effectively, this system can be an attractive economic alternative when compared with the total cost of adding new peak load power generating plants.

An essential element of the success of the program is keeping customers enrolled in the program and maintaining the equipment in the field to ensure that the system delivers the demand reduction that is expected by the system operators. About 1.5 percent of the customers who have the LMS field equipment installed in their home call the customer care center with questions. These calls can be as simple as requesting to add additional appliances to the load control program, although in other cases, customer service representatives may have to respond to a customer's perception that their participating appliances failed because of the installed LMS equipment. Employees specially trained in LMS (including a basic electrical knowledge of air conditioning, water heaters, and pool pump operation/wiring) help reduce customer dropouts from the system and ensure continued customer participation.

FPL customers benefit from the On Call load control program because it allows FPL to maintain a consistent supply of power generation during times of peak demand. The demand reduction enabled by On Call customers has helped keep electric rates low by deferring the need to build three power plants since the program’s inception, which also helps protect the environment.” [10]

“In April 2007, the Florida Public Service Commission decided not to adopt PURPA Standard 14 (“Time-Based Metering and Communications”) as enacted in EPACT 2005. According to the Commission, it has been committed to the PURPA standard—as well as the “spirit of efficiency, conservation, and customer options which underlay the…standards”—since the 1981 issuance of the PURPA standards. For its EPACT 1252 proceeding, the Commission surveyed Florida utilities, even those not subject to EPACT 2005, and found that they have “considered and implemented time sensitive rates and load management programs that comply with the spirit of Section 1252.” Therefore, the Commission finds Florida to be in compliance. Furthermore, it states that adopting PURPA Standard 14 could mandate programs that are “not cost effective for the general body of ratepayers.”” [6]

Load/demand side management gives customers a monthly credit for allowing specific electrical equipment to be interrupted for short periods of time.

The demand-based rates measure the base and on-peak kW and all other times and bill customers based on the highest kW used in a given 30 minute time.

Industrial and residential load management are controlled by the company and can be interrupted in specific increments during peak periods.

Time-of-Use rates, depending on the rate are an on-peak rate and an off-peak rate.

Curtailable service allows the company to curtail customer demand upon request within the applicable tariff levels.

Distributed generators include qualifying cogeneration and small power production facilities where prices are based either on company avoided energy and maintenance costs or capacity and energy is offered under standard offer contracts or otherwise negotiated.

State-Level Incentives

Florida has several incentives on renewable energy generation including corporate tax credits, sales tax exemptions, and a state rebate program. Also several utilities offer loan programs and rebates. The majority of the Florida incentives are directed at solar installations.